


Smoldering Embers

by Val_Brown



Series: Blazing Hearts [1]
Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), Teen Wolf (TV), Tommy Ratliff (Musician)
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys in dresses, Crossover, Dangerous Situations, Disney Princesses - Freeform, EMT Stiles Stilinski, EMT Tommy Ratliff, Emergency situations, F/M, Firefighter AU, Firefighter Adam Lambert, Firefighter Derek Hale, Friends in love, Hurt Adam, Hurt! Adam, M/M, happy ever after, oblivious boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-04
Updated: 2014-01-04
Packaged: 2018-01-07 04:32:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1115545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Brown/pseuds/Val_Brown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fires, car accidents, explosions, rescuing children while dressed as a Disney Princess? It’s all in a days work for EMT Tommy Ratliff.</p><p>He can deal with blood, guts, death and fire, but telling Adam he’s in love with him? He freezes up and will bolt in the opposite direction. Since the first day on the job, Tommy has been ass over badge for the Lieutenant. It also doesn’t help that every time Tommy finally decides to do it, Adam is seeing someone.</p><p>Until one accident, moment in time and he thinks he’s lost the chance. It’s all he can do to stay together, to not lose it. Will he be too late to tell Adam? Will he lose the only person he has really ever loved to the one thing they can’t control?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smoldering Embers

**Author's Note:**

> OMG this fic! Ok so I have taken a really long break from this fandom and immersed myself in Teen Wolf like WHOA. However, these boys... So I power watched like so much Chicago Fire and Teen Wolf and had this idea... Firefighter Adam! He's like Casey(IMO) and Derek is SO Severide(without having a father that is a total bag of dicks) Stiles and Tommy are totally Dawson and Shay... I mean COME ON! Anyway, This fic was a long time coming for me. I wanna thank my beta aislinntlc for being AMAZING!(as the usual) and my amaze-balls(you totally heard that in Malcolm McDowell's voice) artist AdobeJunkie for the banner and spacers. SO GOOD!!

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=x3bdvt)

 

“Shut up, dammit Tommy,” Derek hissed against Tommy’s mouth before turning Tommy around and pushing him over the countertop. Reaching his hands around Tommy’s hips and pulling his belt and pants open, Derek dragged them down his legs. “If Peter catches us again he’s going to kill me.”

“Then hurry up and fuck me, asshole.” Tommy grunted as Derek pushed two slick fingers inside, swiftly prepping Tommy before pulling away to open his pants and roll on the condom Tommy held over his shoulder. “If you take any longer we’re going to get a call.”

“God you’re a bitch.” Derek held the base of his dick with one hand and Tommy’s hip in the other, pushing in fast, making Tommy wheeze out a breath. “If you jinxed us...”

Tommy huffed a laugh, throwing his hand against the mirror to push back at Derek’s thrusts. “Just get me off, dick.”

Derek reached around and started jerking Tommy off with his slick hand, just as there was a knock on the bathroom door. “What?” Derek called as he twisted at the tip of Tommy’s dick making him clench tight and glare down at the thumb over his slit.

“Chief is on his way upstairs to talk to you, Lieutenant.”

“Sh-shit, okay Probie, thanks.” Derek sped up, pounding into Tommy, rapidly twisting his hand over Tommy’s cock. 

“Fuck, Derek!” Tommy scrambled at the countertop as Derek flicked his thumb over the sensitive spot just under the head of Tommy’s cock, causing Tommy to clench tight around Derek as he came. Derek grunted, thrusting twice more into Tommy’s clenching hole and coming. “Okay, get out of me. Chief is gonna kill you if he sees my dick again.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Derek said holding onto the the condom and pulling out of Tommy with a wince. Tying it off, Derek wrapped it in a paper towel and tossed it in the trash. Tommy used a wet paper towel to clean himself up and tugged his pants back up, tucking in his shirt. 

Tommy stepped close to Derek as he buckled his belt. Pressing a kiss to the side of Derek’s mouth Tommy huffed a laugh, “I can hear Peter coming up the stairs.”

Derek rolled his eyes and pushed his way out of the bathroom after making sure his uniform was presentable. Just as Tommy exited the bathroom and headed toward the stairs, Peter walked in.

“Ratliff.” Peter nodded as Tommy rumbled down the stairs. “I appreciate not seeing your ass today.”

“You’re welcome, Chief.” Tommy laughed as he tossed a wave behind him and headed down the stairs to his rig.

“I thought you guys broke up, Nephew,” Peter said with a shake of his head.

“We did, it’s just-” Derek ran his hand over the back of his neck. More than anything he hated talking about his sex life; it was worse when it was with family. He just knew Peter would tell his mom, his mom would tell his sister and Laura would never let it go.

“Stress relief?” Peter asked leaning against the wall.

“Yeah and Tommy’s safe. No strings.” Derek walked toward the open kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. “Why are you up here? Did you want to talk about something other than my sex life?”

“Oh yeah. I need you and Lambert to get together and come up with ideas for our booth this year at the fair. Stilinski and his cops are doing something with fairy tales. The medics are also doing fairy tales, so you and Lambert get your guys and figure out if you’re sticking with the theme or doing something else.” Peter pushed off the wall and headed toward the stairs. ‘Oh yeah, your mom said dinner tonight at seven. bring Kellen, she’s been complaining about not seeing her grandson enough, and don’t try to get out of it, she knows you’re off shift at five.”

~~

Hopping off the last step, Tommy walked toward his rig, moving around the open back doors. 

“So Ratliff, you and Hale back on?” A blonde woman called from the back of the ambulance directly across from Tommy’s.

“Nope, just a little stress relief,” Tommy called back as he tugged open a drawer and picked up his clipboard. “Hey Reyes, where’s Stiles?”

“Right here.” Tommy turned to watch his partner rolling an oxygen tank across the bay to the back of their ambulance. Grabbing the top, Tommy helped Stiles put the tank in place and strapped it against the wall of the rig. “That call we had last night drained our tank, I had to swap out for a new one.”

“Was that the call at the nursing home?” A brunette woman asked as she threw her bag into the back of the opposite ambulance with Reyes.

“Hey Allison, yeah. It was a carbon monoxide leak and we had fourteen on oxygen whose tanks were attached to the wall inside the building, so we had them hooked up to ours,” Tommy said as he checked off on his clipboard that they had a full oxygen tank. “Whitmore and Mahealani drained two of theirs last night. I thought Whitmore was going to blow a blood vessel this morning trying to He-Man the tanks in alone. Mahealani was trying not to piss himself laughing.”

“God, how is that dick even an EMT?” Reyes asked as she stacked rolls of tape in her drawer and handed Allison a stack of gauze to put in another drawer.

“He’s good at his job, and the patients seem to like him,” Stiles said as he tossed a package of tubing to Tommy. “Trust me, as much as I dislike the guy, even I have to admit he’s good at what he does. Also, Mahealani keeps Whitmore’s ego in check. I like that.”

“Speaking of Whitmore, did you hear about what happened with Dr. Martin?” Allison said as she sat in the open door of the rig, her legs hanging off the edge. 

“If it involves her slapping him in any way, please let me get popcorn,” Stiles said as he dropped to sit on the bumper of his rig. His long standing crush on the brilliant and beautiful Dr. Lydia Martin was common knowledge in the house and something they constantly teased him about. Tommy also realized that Stiles’ proclamations of undying love for the Doctor tended to be more pronounced after something happened between Tommy and Derek, or that Derek would come to Tommy after Stiles spent a meal waxing poetic about Dr. Martin and her genius.

“She didn’t hit him, but she might as well have,” Allison said, swinging her legs over the bumper of the truck. “So apparently, Whitmore asked her out last week and she said yes. He took her out to that super snooty place on Wakefield Drive and his ex showed up.”

“Oh shit, it wasn’t...” Stiles eyes went wide when Allison nodded.

“It was Erin.” Allison cackled, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Are you serious? I thought Erin was still in Fresno with that Carnival.” Tommy snorted out a laugh. 

“Apparently not. Anyway, they had just sat down and ordered their drinks, when Erin comes up to the table. Jackson was smart enough to acknowledge her, but Erin went all psycho on him. Accused him of cheating, according to Mahaelani, Erin is still convinced that they’re together and ended up dumping a glass of wine on Dr. Martin after accusing her of being Whitmore’s mistress.” Allison wiped a tear from her eye.

“Oh My God. How is Erin still alive?” Stiles asked in awe. Everyone knew not to fuck with Dr. Lydia Martin. She could and would take you apart literally and figuratively with no thought or worry.

“She got pissed, threw her glass of wine in Jackson’s face and left.” Pulling her hair into a fast braid, Allison shrugged. “But Mahaelani went and explained everything to her and now it turns out Whitmore and Martin are an item.”

Tommy watched Stiles face fall at that bit of news, but he quickly recovered. “So, has everyone figured out what fairy tale character they’re dressing up as for the fair?”

Erica groaned as she hopped out of the ambulance. “Have Lambert and Hale figured out what their guys are doing?”

Just as he opened his mouth to answer the air horn went off followed by operations on the PA.

_”Multi-Car collision at the corner of Hatfield and Washington. Fire and Rescue needed. Be aware there is a vehicle already on fire. Repeat, a vehicle is already on fire.”_

“We’ll finish this later, lets go.” Tommy rounded the ambulance as Stiles pulled the rear doors shut. Allison and Erica followed suit as they pulled out of the bays, trailed closely by the firefighters as they kicked the sirens on and flew down the street, lights flashing.

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=35lg508)

As the truck came to a stop, the firefighters leapt off, two rounding the rig to get at the hoses. 

“Lahey, crack that hydrant. Boyd, McCall run the hose.” Derek called as he knocked on a black helmet. “Probie, I want you to check the car back there, make sure it’s empty.”

“Got it Lieutenant,” she said, hustling back toward the crushed Toyota. She stuttered to a stop at the windshield. “Lieutenant, Chief, we got a kid!”

“What the hell are you talking about Greenberg?” Peter yelled as he pulled his helmet on and hurried to her side and saw the car seat, a small hand clutching a blanket to a tear stained face.

“Chief, there’s a kid in here,” Greenberg said, hustling to the rear driver’s side of the crushed car and began pulling at the buckled door.

“Son of a bitch!” Peter said, rushing to her side and pulling at the top of the door frame. “Lambert, grab the jaws!”

A tall, dark haired firefighter rushed over with a large hydraulic tool in hand. “London, get over here and hold the door!”

“Greenberg, can you get in the car?” Peter asked, watching a slight, dark skinned man run over to take his place at the door.

“Yeah Chief, I think I can squeeze in through the window.”

“Good, take my jacket and hold it over the kid, just in case of flying glass. Try to cover his ears.” Peter helped Greenberg slide through the window, passing her his jacket. He watched as she settled the jacket over the baby, ducking her head under it so as not to scare the child.

 

Peter stood back and watched while Lambert and London jammed the jaws into the slight gap between the frame and the door and cranked the machine on.

“What ya got Chief?” Tommy yelled over the loud grinding of the jaws of life, leading the gurney with his and Stiles’ bags on it, Stiles just behind.

“Greenberg is in with a kid, no driver in this car, unsure about injuries.” Peter gestured back at the car that London and Lambert were prying open. “Check with Lahey and Hale about the other cars.”

“Alright, thanks.” Tommy turned back to face Stiles and now Allison and Erica. “Okay, Stiles, you stay here and wait for Greenberg to come out of the car with the baby. Allison, you and Reyes check back where Hale and Big D are.”

Nods all around as they spilt up, grabbing their bags and heading toward the carnage. Tommy jogged over to where Lahey was cranking the hydrant closed. “Do we have any injuries?”

“Not sure. We cleared the cars, all the occupants are out and on the sidewalk. Most of them are talking with the cops,” Lahey said as he pointed to where three officers were standing.

“Thanks man.” Tommy lugged his bag over to the crowd, stopping in front of an older man in a suit. “Chris, are there any injuries here?”

“Yeah, nothing serious that we could see, but you should go over them just in case,” Chris said as he clapped a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “Laura and Cora are talking to the other victims, the ones sitting on the curb we’ve already talked to, so you may want to start with the man on the end.”

“Oh really? Is he injured badly?” Tommy asked as he dropped his bag to the ground and pulled a pair of latex gloves from the side pocket.

“No, but you may want to ask him if he’s been drinking.” Chris tucked his hand in his pocket as he watched the two other officers work their way down the line of people asking them questions. “I talked to him; he was slurring badly and he reeks of alcohol. But when I asked him to submit to a breathalyzer he refused. I can’t make him, but maybe you can talk him into one?” 

“I’ll see what I can do. Allison is usually better than me at this, but I’ll give it a go.” Tommy put the gloves on and picked up his bag, heading to the man nearly passed out on the curb. He hated this the most, dealing with a potential drunk driver that caused a massive accident and hurt so many people. Taking a deep breath, Tommy knelt before the man. “Sir, my name is Tommy. I’m a paramedic, are you hurt anywhere?”

The man looked up at him with glazed eyes, he brought a hand up to his face and blinked at it, before letting it drop back to the grass. “Don't thin so...” 

“Well, you’re bleeding, so can I clean you up and see where the blood is coming from?” Tommy leaned back as the man breathed in his face. Looking back at Chris, Tommy just nodded, the man reeked of alcohol, but he needed to make sure his slurring was actually from booze and not because he was in diabetic shock. “Sir, are you diabetic?”

The man looked at him, his eyes trying to focus as he swayed. “No... just drunk.”

Tommy looked at Chris and raised an eyebrow. “Well, that was easy,” Chris said as he wrote it down in his notebook. Tommy reached back as Chris handed him a breathalyzer machine.

“Sir, can I get you to blow in this for me?” Tommy asked as he held up a portable breathalyzer, wiggling it slightly.

“Sure. You know,” the man said as he scooted forward and leered at Tommy, “you’re a good looking man.”

Rolling his eyes, Tommy thrust the machine in the man’s face. “Put your mouth on the straw and blow until I tell you to stop.”

“Anything for you beautiful.” Winking, he leaned in and almost tipped over trying to get the straw in his mouth.

“Christ,” Tommy said as he put a hand on the guy’s forehead and put the straw between his lips. “Blow.”

The man blew into the machine until his face turned red and it beeped. Tommy pulled the plastic straw off and looked down at the number. His eyes got huge as he turned so Chris could see the number. “How in the hell are you even alive, let alone driving?”

The man shrugged and grimaced, reaching up to touch his head. “I’m bleeding. Why am I bleeding?”

“Hold still and I’ll clean you up and let Officer Argent here give you a ride to the police station.” Tommy wiped at the blood on the man’s face before placing two butterfly bandages on the cut on the man’s scalp. “There you go. All better. Officer Argent, he’s all yours.”

Pulling off his gloves, Tommy stuffed them into the biohazard bag he had pulled out of his bag. Pulling on a clean pair of gloves, Tommy moved on to a man holding a toddler.

~

“Chief, how’s Greenberg?” Lambert asked as he and London set the jaws of life aside and grabbed at the gap in the door and began pulling at it.

“Greenberg, how’s the kid?” Peter asked as he ducked to look in the car.

“He’s alright, just really scared. He keeps asking for his dad,” Greenberg said as she curled a hand over the child’s head and whispered in his ear a story about a werewolf and his forever love. The boy turned his face to press his cheek against hers as Lambert and London finally got the door open.

“Hey Greenberg, how’s our little guy doing?” Stiles asked as he reached to take the jacket that was covering the child.

“He’s doing okay, he’s been really brave,” Greenberg said as she held the child’s head so Stiles could slide on the tiny collar to keep his head immobile. 

Stiles slid a small backboard into the car and as Greenberg helped him get the baby settled, a tiny hand came up to touch the tip of Stiles nose. “Pretty. Like D’ln.”

Stiles looked over at Greenberg who had the decency to look embarrassed. “I told him a story.”

“Seriously, Dez? You told him about Tyler and Dylan?” Stiles groaned as the baby kept touching his face and giggling about D’ln and his Woof.

“Hey, it kept him from freaking out while Lambert and London he-man’d the door open.” Greenberg huffed as she slid out of the car and accepted her helmet back from Peter and pulled it on. 

Peter knocked on her helmet as he pointed her in the direction of Derek and the rest of her guys.

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=2a85aua)

“I shit you not, the guy’s B.A.C. was the highest I have ever seen,” Tommy said, shoving a handful of chips in his mouth. Tommy handed the bag to Stiles as he dropped onto the couch next to Tommy. “I’m pretty sure Argent has it framed on his desk.”

“I think I heard that, it was what point three seven right?” Stiles asked through a full mouth.

Grimacing at his partner, Tommy nodded. “Yeah, I’m surprised the guy was even awake let alone driving a damn car.”

“That asshole’s lucky no one died.” Boyd sat in one of the recliners the station had in the common room. 

“What was the worst injury?” Tommy took the chips back from Stiles as Greenberg and Lahey came in and sat down.

“I think the kid that Greenberg sat with in the car,” Stiles said, getting up to walk to the kitchen. “You guys want anything to drink?”

Everyone called out what they wanted before turning to Greenberg. “What happened to the kid?” Lahey asked, catching the bottle of water Tommy tossed to him.

“He has a broken arm and leg, and a mild concussion. But he’s lucky he’s too young to realize his father was the drunk driver,” Greenberg said, taking the can of Coke from Tommy’s hand. The group around her went silent.

“You have got to be kidding. That kid’s dad is the fuckwad that caused that accident?” Erica set her drink on the table and looked at Greenberg in shock.

“Yeah, that’s what I heard.” Greenberg sat back and fiddled with the tab on her can. “Does it ever get easier to see that? I mean, I know you’ve all seen worse than that accident. But...”

“I wish we could say that’s the worst, Dez. But you know it’s not,” Tommy said, dropping a hand to her shoulder. “What we saw at that accident is a best case scenario. We had minimal injuries, the most damage done was to the vehicles. I can guarantee that you will see much worse, that’s a guarantee I wish I was wrong about, but we all know I’m not. Not in this job.”

“You sure this is for you Greenberg?” Allison asked softly from her perch on the back of Erica’s chair. “Not that I think you can’t do it, but-”

“No, I understand what you mean.” Greenberg pushed her bangs off her face. “This is what I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve never been good at much, I was okay at sports, pretty decent at school. But _this_ ,” she waved her arms in a wide circle gesturing to the rigs behind them in the bay, “this, I’m good at.”

Boyd stood from his seat and clapped Greenberg on the shoulder. “Yeah, you are good at this Probie.”

Greenberg sat back with a smile as a voice called out from down the hallway. _”Don’t let that go to your head Greenberg!”_

“I won’t Lieutenant!” Greenberg yelled back with a laugh. Tommy tapped at the lid of his water bottle and watched as the lounge cleared out.

“You coming, Ratliff?” Erica asked as she slipped her hand in the crook of Boyd’s elbow. “You’re off shift now aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I’m coming.” Tommy pushed up from the couch and followed the others into the locker room. He was just pulling off his shirt when Lahey coughed at him.

“So, you and Lieutenant Hale, you’re back together?”

Getting his shirt caught around his neck, Tommy jerked his left arm back, banging it on his locker door. “Damn it! Shit, fuck...” Tommy flung his shirt to the floor and cradled his elbow, glaring at the group of half clothed men around him. “Not funny assholes. Fuck... and to answer your question, Isaac, no, we aren’t back together. Sometimes we hook up, no strings.”

Tommy ducked his head into his locker to pull out his shirt when a hand settled on his shoulder. Looking behind him, Tommy saw Boyd as the others waved and walked out of the locker room. “What’s up, Boyd?”

“You know Stiles...” Boyd looked around the now empty locker room. Tommy put a hand up.

“I know, well, I should say I just figured it out today.” Tommy ran a hand through his hair. “Derek doesn’t know. If he did...”

“He would probably continue to be an oblivious ass. What about...”

“No, he’s still with that doctor.” Tommy shook his head and shut his locker, pinning Boyd with a look. “He doesn’t feel the same way as I do, and he is not going to find out how I feel, got it?”

Putting his hands up in surrender, Boyd nodded. “I got it, Tommy. I won’t tell him. But you really shouldn’t hook up with Derek anymore. Stiles makes this face that really is the saddest thing I have seen.”

“Yeah, I know. I saw it this morning before we got the call for the accident.” Tommy pushed his hair off his forehead, looking back at Boyd. “He started gushing about Dr. Martin again. I figured out that he only does that after he hears about Derek and me.”

Boyd just looked at Tommy and shook his head. “Just...”

“Yeah I know, no more hook ups. I just wish the two of them would pull their heads out of their asses and get together already.” Grabbing his bag from the locker he slammed it shut and pulled his hoodie on.

“Pot meet kettle.” Boyd threw over his shoulder as he headed out of the locker room.

“It’s not the same!” Tommy yelled after him. “Ass.”

~ 

Adam dropped his head to his desk as he saw the pile of paperwork he still had to finish before his shift ended.

“You okay, Lambert?”

“Wha?” Adam looked up from the mess of papers on his desk, grabbing the post-it note he felt stuck to his cheek. “Yeah, just so much god damn paperwork. You out, Hale?”

Pulling his jacket on, Derek nodded his head.”Yeah, gotta pick up Kellen, then over to my parents’ house.”

“Family dinners, gotta love those.” Adam laughed, leaning back in his chair cracking his back with a groan. Standing up, Adam tossed his pen on his desk. “Fuck this shit, the paperwork can wait until tomorrow.”

Laughing, Derek watched Adam grab his jacket. “So, how’s things with the doctor?”

Wrinkling his nose, Adam looked at Derek. “They’re okay, I mean...” He sighed heavily. “There’s no chemistry. The first couple dates were great, but after that, nothing.”

“Not even a spark?”

“Nope, he’s a great guy, but...”

“He’s not who you want?” Derek said quietly, trying not to think about his own issues with relationships.

“Not really.” Adam pushed his chair in and shrugged his shoulders. “Oh well, so I heard you and Ratliff are back on.”

“I swear this place is worse than high school.” Derek pressed his hand to his face. “We aren’t together, just... a little stress relief.”

“Ahh, so I take it you ran into Kate?” Adam lifted an eyebrow at the glare Derek threw at the floor.

“Yes, she actually had the nerve to ask if she could take Kellen for the weekend. It took all I had not to laugh in the bitch’s face.” Derek angrily pulled open the door to let Adam through.

“When did she get released anyway? I thought she still had at least six months left.” Adam zipped his jacket and stuffed his hands in his pockets against the cold wind. “She got three years, how is she out already?”

“Time off for good behavior or some bullshit. What pisses me off is that no one thought to call and inform me that her parole was approved.” Derek angrily slapped his hand on the roof of his car. “She tried to burn my house down with my son inside and now she wants to take me to court for custody!”

“Whoa, I thought she just wanted him for the weekend!” Adam came to a sudden stop, his hand in the air like he was waiting for a teacher to call on him. 

“She told me that if I didn’t give him to her for the weekend she would take me to court for custody,” Derek said quietly, his finger tracing the seam of the car door, his eyes so sad.

“You know what... no.” Adam pulled his phone from his pocket and punched the call button. 

_”You had better have a good reason for calling me. So unless you are telling me you stopped seeing Dr. Keith and are now seeing the pretty blond EMT with big brown eyes you go on and on about, I’m hanging up.”_

“Neil, wait. Derek’s ex is out of prison and threatening to take him to court for custody of Kellen.”

A loud growl came over the phone that even Derek could hear. _”Like hell that psycho is going to get Kellen. When is Derek’s next day off?”_

“Derek, when is your next day off?” 

“Friday.”

“His next day off is Friday.” Adam said into the phone.

_”Alright, Friday morning eight a.m., my office. I refuse to allow her to get within fifty feet of Kellen. There is no way she will even be called his mother when I am finished with her.”_

“Did you hear that, Derek? Eight a.m. on Friday.” Adam spoke back into his phone. “Thank you, Neil.”

_”My thanks will be making sure she can never see that baby again.”_

Adam hung up the phone and tucked it into his pocket. “She will not get him, Derek. I promise, Neil will fight her with everything he has.”

Coughing, Derek looked at Adam and pressed a hand to his shoulder. “Thank you, and Neil. I won’t let her have him without a fight.”

Smiling, Derek turned to his car. “Hey, Lambert.”

“What?” Adam turned back to Derek.

“Your brother is right, don’t let Ratliff slip past you. He’s a good man.” Derek climbed into his car and took off, leaving Adam standing next to his open door.

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=35lg508)

 

Groaning, Tommy rolled over grabbing for his phone, thumbing it on, cutting off Depeche Mode as he growled, “This better be good, it’s my day off.”

 _”We’re supposed to be meeting the others to discuss our costumes for the carnival,”_ Stiles’ eternally cheerful voice said across the line.

Sitting up, Tommy pushed his hair out of his face. “Fine, let me get dressed. I’ll meet you guys at the diner in twenty minutes.”

_“Nope, I’m on your porch, Rockstar. Let me in.”_

Tossing his phone aside, Tommy hitched his sheet around his hips and shuffled to his front door. 

“Well, don’t you look like a ray of sunshine,” Stiles said, grinning, pushing his way in the front door.

“Fuck you, Stiles. It’s like nine in the morning. On my day off, by the way.” Tommy pouted, trudging back to his room to get dressed.

“Stop whining, it’s my day off too, ass. It’s either meet up with Allison and Erica now or we get stuck with Jackson and Danny. Who would you rather meet up with?” Stiles stood in the open door of Tommy’s room, watching as Tommy searched for his pants. “Your pants are on the lamp, not even going to ask how they ended up there.”

Tommy glowered as he pulled them off the lamp and onto his legs. Grabbing a shirt, he did a quick sniff check and deeming it clean enough, pulled it on. Running a hand through his hair, he looked at Stiles. “Alright, I’m ready, lets go.”

~

“So I was talking to Boyd and he said that Lambert’s crew is doing Disney’s version of The Little Mermaid and still need an Ariel,” Erica said as she grinned at Tommy. Tommy did not like the shark-like look on her face.

“That has to do with me how?” Tommy grabbed for the upside down coffee cup in front of him, flipping it over in the universal sign for “Please Fill Me Up”.

“You need to be their Ariel,” she said as if Tommy were slow.

“What about you or Allison?” Stiles asked absently as he looked over his menu.

“Can’t. Derek’s crew is going as Beauty and the Beast, also Disney’s version, and Allison is going as the Feather Duster and I am going as Cogsworth the Clock.” Erica paused as the waitress came to their table and they all ordered. “We still need a Belle though... Stiles.”

“Do I have to shave my body?” Stiles asked, his chin resting on his hands. “Which dress are you going to put me in?”

Erica got a manic look on her face. “We were debating that actually. Allison says the blue one, with the pinafore. I want the gold ball gown.”

Watching Stiles internally debate the gold over the blue dress, Tommy chuckled. “Don’t laugh at me, Ratliff. You’re gonna have to shave too.” Stiles said, making a grab for Tommy’s now full coffee cup. “I wanna wear the blue one, the pinafore has pockets I can put my phone and wallet in.”

“Alright, now, Tommy. Which dress for you? The pink one or the blue and black one?” Allison asked before taking a sip of her coffee.

Tommy stared at her with a confused and slightly frightened look on his face. “Um...”

“The blue and black one, we can add pockets to it for his phone and stuff without it ruining the lines of the dress,” Erica said, sitting back so the waitress could set the plates of food on the table. Pouring syrup on her stack of pancakes, Erica snorted at Tommy’s face. “Don’t look so shell shocked, we won’t make you cover your tats. It’ll be a nice dichotomy, pretty princess, badass tattoos.” 

“What have I done?” Tommy groaned around a piece of bacon Stiles shoved in his mouth. 

“You haven’t done anything; they’re doing it all, we’re just along for the ride.” Stiles shoveled a forkful of eggs into his mouth. “You should be used to this by now. I mean last year they put us in Playboy bunny costumes with the tails and ears. At least this year we don’t have to wax our balls.”

Tommy points his fork at Stiles in agreement. Stabbing his hash browns, Tommy watches the diner door swing open and a pair of police officers walk in. “Hey, Stiles. Your dad just walked in.”

Stiles’ head shot up like a prairie dog out of a hole. “ He better not be ordering bacon...”

“Calm down, he’s with my dad. He’ll make sure your dad orders fruit instead of bacon,” Allison reassured Stiles before picking up her coffee cup.

“He better be,” Stiles muttered over his coffee cup. Tossing their napkins onto their plates, everyone stood up just as all the pagers in the diner went off.

_”Apartment fire MLK boulevard. Full structure, fire and rescue, victims trapped in building. All Call. Repeat Apartment fire MLK boulevard, full structure, victims trapped, All Call.”_

“Think they’ll need us?” Tommy asked pulling his jacket on. Nodding, Stiles watched his dad and Chris Argent rush to their patrol cars and fly out of the parking lot, sirens blaring.

“Can’t hurt to have extra hands on scene.” Erica pulled her jacket on while Tommy held the door to let everyone through. 

“Alright, Stiles, call us in to the station while I drive.” Tommy slid in the driver’s seat of his car, turning the key as the rest tumbled inside.

~

“Holy shit.” Tommy heard Stiles breathe out as he pulled up to the curb. Flames shot from broken windows, smoke hovering densely in the cold air.

“Ratliff, Stilinski!” Tommy looked up to see Jackson waving at them frantically from back of his rig, soot smeared over his cheek.

“Hey, Jax. What do you need us to do?” Tommy pulled on a pair of latex gloves and picked up his kit bag.

“Help Danny, he’s got a bunch of little kids that need O2 and have minor burns. They’re mainly scared, they came from the upper floors. Stiles, you come with me, we’ve got more coming out,” Jackson said, hitching his bag over his shoulder and taking off toward the small huddle of people covered in soot.

Tommy turned toward Danny and his group of children. Crouching low, he smiled at a small boy who cradled his right arm. “Hey, bud. Can I look at your arm? What happened?”

“Was sleeping, then the fire alarm started beeping really loud.” The boy sniffed as Tommy turned his arm over, careful of the obvious fracture. “My mama came in and told us to go downstairs, she was behind us. Where’s my mama?”

“Let me wrap up your arm here real quick and I’ll go ask my firefighter friends about your mama, okay?” Tommy pulled a wrap out of his bag and began to wrap the child’s arm quickly. “What’s your name, bud?”

“Anthony, but Mama calls me Tony.”

“Okay, Anthony. Do you know your mama’s name?” Tommy tucked the free end of the wrap near Anthony’s elbow and pulled an emergency sling from his bag. Tying the ends together, Tommy slipped it over Anthony’s head and helped bring his arm to rest inside it.

“Her name is Maryann.”

“Alright, bud. You stay here with Danny and I’m gonna go find out about your mama, okay?” Tommy walked over to where Boyd and Isaac were standing, smoke rolling off their turn outs. 

“Isn’t today your day off, Ratliff?” Isaac asked before taking a drink from the bottle of water Boyd handed him.

“Yeah, but we figured you might need as many hands as possible.” Tommy looked at the small pockets of people milling around the fire trucks. “Is everyone out of the building?”

“So far as we can tell. We’re waiting for the all clear from Lambert and Hale.” Boyd pulled his hood off, stuffing it in his leg pocket. Wiping his face, Boyd looked back at the flaming building as their radios crackled. 

“Coming out with one!”

Tommy watched as Stiles and Jackson rushed toward the figure that staggered out of the fire, the body of a woman in his arms. As Jackson cut the front of the victim’s night shirt open to put the monitor leads on her chest, the firefighter pulled off his helmet and Tommy’s stomach plummeted as Derek tugged off his hood. “Where’s Adam?”

“What?” Boyd looked at Tommy, static cracking from his radio.

“Adam, where is he? You said he was inside with Derek,” Tommy demanded, watching the smoke shadowed doorway, flames beginning to lick the frame.

Boyd’s radio crackled to life. _”All Clear. On my way out.”_

Tommy didn’t release the breath he was holding until he saw Adam coming through the smoky doorway. As Adam made it to the back of the firetruck where Tommy was standing, the roof of the building dropped with a loud crack, embers falling like fiery rain on them. The doorway Adam just walked through collapsed, flames shooting toward the sky. “Get everyone back!” Tommy heard Boyd yell as Jackson and Stiles moved their victim to an area further from the crumbling building. Tommy turned to Adam, but as he opened his mouth he heard a cry.

“MAMA!”

Turning, Tommy watched as Anthony rushed toward Jackson and Stiles as they worked on the female Derek pulled from the fire. Realization kicking in, Tommy rushed for the boy, scooping him up and turning so he couldn’t watch as Jackson hit the button to shock. The woman, _Maryann_ , this boy’s _mother_ , jolted on the ground, a static whine coming from the monitor, before a blip, then a steady beat. 

“We got a beat! Pack her up and we roll! DANNY!” Jackson yelled, helping Stiles lift her from the ground and strap her to the gurney. Packing the monitor against her side, they rushed to where Danny was waiting at the back of their ambulance. 

Tommy held Anthony tight as Stiles slammed the back doors and gave them a quick slap, before Danny took off, sirens and lights bright and loud.

“MAMA!” Anthony screamed as he watched the ambulance disappear around the corner. Tommy held Anthony tighter as he clawed at Tommy’s shoulders. 

“Hey, Anthony, come on bud. We’ll follow, okay?” Tommy waved at Stiles’ dad, beckoning him over. “John, his mom was in that bus.”

“Alright, hang on, I’ll get him to the hospital.” John placed a hand on Anthony’s back. “Hey pal, is there anyone we can call to sit with you at the hospital?”

Anthony shook his head against Tommy’s shoulder. “ ‘s just me and Mama.” 

Taking a deep breath, John just nodded. “Alright, bud. We’ll get you to your mom. I’ll be right back.”

Tommy watched John walk over to Chris and gesture before the two of them walked back over to Tommy and Anthony.

“Alright.” John placed a hand on Anthony’s back again. “What’s your name, kiddo?”

“Anthony.”

“Okay, Anthony. This is Chris, he’s going to take you to the hospital to be with your mom. Is that okay?” John moved around Tommy to look Anthony in the face. “There will be a nice lady waiting there for you to take care of your arm. She will wait with you for your mom too, is that okay?”

“I guess. Who’s the lady?” Anthony mumbled against Tommy’s shoulder.

“Her name is Melissa, she’s a nurse. She’s very nice, I promise.” John crouched down so he could look Anthony in the eye.

Anthony sat up and looked at Tommy. “Is she?”

“Yes, she is very nice. Her son is right over there.” Tommy pointed toward where Scott was on the hose, spraying the flames coming from the collapsed entryway. “She will sit with you for as long as you need, alright?”

Anthony nodded and let Tommy set him on his feet before taking Chris’s proffered hand. Tommy watched as Chris led Anthony to his car and buckled him in before leaving. As soon as the tail lights of Chris’ car disappeared, Tommy stomped over to where Adam was wiping the soot from his neck and smacked Adam on the back of the head. “Asshole!”

Adam dropped the cloth in his hand and looked at Tommy, confusion written all over his face. “What?”

Tommy just bit his tongue and shook his head. “Nothing, just too much adrenaline. I had a kid scared about his mom.”

“The one Hale brought out? We found her under a piece of sheetrock. Looks like she was on her way out and it fell on her.” Adam took a bottle of water from Isaac as Tommy looked at the burning building.

“Was she at the base of the stairs?” Tommy asked, turning back to Adam.

“Yeah, how did you know?” Adam tucked his hood in the leg pocket of his turnout pants.

“Anthony, the kid I helped, his arm looked broken. I’m betting it was from the wall coming down on them. He said he remembered his mom being behind them on the way down the stairs but lost her when he got outside.” Tommy ran his hand over his face. “She probably pushed him out of the way, the wall fell, hit his arm and pinned her.”

The group of them turned to look at the now smoldering building, sighing they turned back to each other. “So, back to the house?”

“Yeah, Greenberg has a shit ton to clean tonight before she can go.” Isaac laughed, tossing his helmet in the rig.

“Screw you Lahey!” Greenberg called from where she was pulling the hose back with the help of McCall. 

“Don’t get mad Probie,” Adam yelled back. “Lahey’s just happy _he’s_ not the probie anymore. He’s dishing it out now that he’s not on the receiving end.”

Laughing, Tommy patted Adam’s shoulder, letting his hand linger for a bit longer than normal. “Meet you guys back at the house?”

“Yeah, grab Stilinski. Hale always gets cranky when he doesn’t see him,” Boyd said, smirking at the glare sent his way from the Lieutenant. “Just telling the truth boss.”

Derek just growled as he pulled himself into the cab of the truck. Brian leaned out of the driver’s seat yelling, “Anyone not in this truck in the next forty five seconds is walking back!” 

There was a flurry of movement as McCall and Greenberg tucked the hose away, and the others hauled themselves into the truck. Slamming the door, Tommy slapped it with his palm. “Meet you guys back at the house!”

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=db483)

“Seriously? Does it need to be that tight?” Tommy asked, watching warily while Erica rounded his back, grabbing the corset strings. 

“You need hips, Tommy. You do not have hips, this will give them to you.” Erica pulled on the strings and Tommy jolted back with a grunt. “Hold on to the door frame so I can get this right. God, Adam is going to shit when he sees you. You’re fucking hot.”

“Whatever, it’s...” Erica pulled the strings tighter, the rounded cups of the corset gaping. “You hate me don’t you?” Tommy gritted through his teeth.

“I don’t hate you, but if you don’t stop bitching I am going to kick your ass.” Erica cuffed him on the back of the head after tying off the corset and deeming his waist perfect. She stepped in front of him, two flesh colored silicone fillets. “I got you boobs!”

“What?”

“You can’t walk around with empty cups can you? Now come here so I can stick them in your shirt.” Erica grabbed him by the front of his corset, pulling him forward so she could stick her hands in his shirt, tucking the silicone into the bra they wrangled him into. “The man loves you, Ratliff. How can you not see that?”

“Jesus Christ, your hands are like ice!” Tommy flailed back, trying to get away from the ice cold hands in his shirt. “He loves me like he loves all his friends. He doesn’t love me like I love him. It’s just something I have to deal with.”

“God, you’re bitchy,” Erica groused, stepping back to look at his chest. Deeming his breasts even, she turned to the counter and grabbed the wig cap. “Come, you need to sit down so I can put the wig on you. How can you miss how he looks at you? He loves you like Stiles loves Derek. It’s kinda gross.”

“Look. He doesn’t love me like I love him. Let’s drop it please.” Tommy plopped in the chair, looking at the wig cap warily. “Where’s Stiles?”

“Fine, I’ll drop it.” Erica sighed. “Allison is helping him get into his dress. He’ll be in soon. Still gotta do up your faces.” Erica pinned his bangs back and pulled the cap on, making sure all his hair was tucked inside. Grabbing the wig, Erica stood in front of Tommy and placed the wig at his forehead and flipped it back making sure it covered the cap entirely before turning to grab the wig glue. “Hold still, I’m starting to glue.”

Sitting still, Tommy tried not to fidget as Erica glued the edges of his wig down. He bit back a laugh as Stiles skipped into the room followed by Allison, who was holding his wig in her hands. “Sit, Stiles. I gotta put your hair on.”

“Well, hello Ariel.” Stiles sat in the chair next to Tommy, holding as still as he could while Allison put his wig on. Tommy side eyed Stiles, unable to move his head for fear of Erica pinching him or stabbing him with the tweezers she was now wielding near his eyes.

“No! Stay the hell away from my eyebrows. You can wax any other part of me, but stay the hell away from my eyebrows!” Tommy leaned as far back in his chair as he could. He would never let anyone near his eyebrows since the Waxing Disaster of 2010. He still had nightmares about having to draw them on.

Erica sighed and set the tweezers back on the counter. “Fine, can I get started on your makeup then?”

“Yeah, try not to poke me in the eye.” Tommy barely flinched when she slapped his shoulder.

“Then hold still.” Erica grabbed the foundation and a sponge from the counter and began dabbing it along his jawline.

~

 

“The Princesses are here!” Greenberg said to the group of children gathered around her, admiring the bright pink skirt that flared around her knees. 

Tommy and Stiles walked into a group of excited kids, little hands lightly touching their hands and arms. One little boy was so excited he looked about to cry. 

Tommy knelt in front of him. “Hey, are you okay? What’s your name?”

The boy nodded and reached out a hand to touch Tommy’s wig. “ My name is Brandon. You’re really pretty. Are you a boy?”

Tommy smiled, “Yes I am.”

“Wow, I like your dress.” The child said, awe in his voice.

“Thank you, my friend Erica picked it out for me. She’s Cogsworth.” Tommy pointed to where Erica was standing next to Boyd, who was dressed as Belle’s father. “You wanna go tell her you like my dress?”

The child bobbed his head in affirmation as Tommy stood up and took his hand, leading him over to the group of children and Erica.

~

Rubbing his hand over his forehead, Tommy looked around at the long line in front of the booth. Who knew that everyone would want to stop at a fire and medical safety booth manned by Disney characters.

“When are Danny and Jackson supposed to be here to take over for us?” Tommy asked Stiles as he flitted about the booth, twirling in his skirt for the kids on the outside looking in. “Who are they coming as?”

“I’m not sure who they’re dressed up as, but Danny said we will love it.” Stiles replied handing Tommy a stack of stickers to help hand out to the kids. “They should be here anytime.”

“Look guys!” Greenberg shouted, standing on her chair. “It’s Lilo and Stitch!”

Tommy and Stiles turned in time to see Danny and Jackson step into the booth. Tommy manfully turned to the kids, handing out the badge stickers with only a smile on his face and not the unholy gleeful laughter he wanted to burst out into at the sight of Jackson in a flowered dress.

“Not a word Ratliff. You have boobs!” Jackson hissed through his teeth.

“He’s just mad cause you guys got the two princesses he wanted.” Danny leaned over the side of the booth shaking his floppy blue ears at the group of kids. “Though I have to admit, he wouldn’t have been able to pull either of them off as well at the two of you can. Smile, Jax. The kids can see you.”

Jackson’s frown melted at the sight of the kids peering over the side of the booth and he broke out into dance, swaying his arms and hips, little shuffles of his feet as he made the kids smile and clap. 

“Very pretty, Jax, Tutu would be happy to see you do it so fluidly.” Danny smiled and turned back to the children.

“Tutu?” Tommy looked at Danny then back at Jackson.

“My grandma.” Danny said absently, letting a small boy pet his ears.

Tommy turned to tell Stiles they could go when they heard the screeching of tires and screaming. Instinct had him grabbing his bag from under one of the tables in the booth and running toward where he could see a crowd forming. “Stiles, get your bag!”

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=2a85aua)

Tommy came upon the scene, a large SUV had jumped the curb, the driver’s side door was open and the driver was missing. Rushing around to the front of the vehicle, Tommy stopped suddenly at seeing a small hand, still holding a badge sticker from the EMT/Firefighter booth, laying on the concrete. “Shit.” 

Dropping to his knees, Tommy leaned down to see if the child was pinned under the car or if they could slide them out on a board. Tossing his hair over his shoulder and peering under the front bumper of the car, he could see the child, a boy, was not pinned and they would be able to slide him out.

“Stiles, get me a child collar and a board, we need to get him out from under the car, Allison, get the police, this is a hit and run, the driver took off before I got over here.” Tommy looked back under the car and saw scared brown eyes looking back at him and felt his heart stutter in his chest. “Hey, Brandon, can you tell me where it hurts?”

“My leg hurts.” Brandon whined out, a tear sliding down his cheek. “I want my dad.”

“I know buddy, we are gonna get you out and you can see your dad, I promise.” Tommy could feel Erica quickly braiding the long wig so it would stay out of his way, seeing as pulling it off was not an option because of the glue. He grabbed the collar Stiles handed him and slid down to his belly so he could crawl under the car. “Okay, bud. I’m gonna put this on your neck, it’s so we can get you out of here without hurting you more, then I’m going to bring in a board and we will slide it under you. After that we can get you out of here. Is that cool?”

“Yeah, it’s not gonna hurt is it?” Brandon let Tommy slide the collar around his neck and fasten it. 

“I’ll try not to make it hurt, buddy. But it probably will because of your leg.” Tommy waved back at Stiles for the backboard, he felt it against his outstretched hand and pulled it toward him. “All right, Brandon. I’m going to slide this board under your back, then I’m going to get a hold of you and pull you the rest of the way on. It will probably hurt and I am really sorry, okay?”

“Okay, I’m ready.” Brandon said, his voice wavering slightly as Tommy scooted closer, dragging the board with him, pushing it under Brandon’s side, trying to gently pull him all the way onto the board. 

Once Tommy got him on the board, he grabbed Brandon’s hand. “All right. We are gonna slide you out of here, are you ready?”

Brandon nodded as best he could with the collar on, “I’m ready.”

“Stiles, I’m backing out, we need a splint ready for his leg, it looks broken.” Tommy began backing out from under the car, dragging the board out with him. Once he was clear, Tommy pushed to his knees, and with Stiles’ help they pulled Brandon the rest of the way out and lifted the board to put him on the gurney Stiles had brought over from the ambulance that was next to their booth. “We need to splint his leg and check his vitals. Also, Erica can you find his dad?”

Tommy turned back to begin checking Brandon’s vitals when he heard a frantic voice calling over the crowd for Brandon. Erica saw the look on Tommy’s face and just gave him a look that said she would find the voice before heading into the crowd.

~

Tommy dropped down onto the couch in the lounge of the station. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back.

“Hey Ariel, how you doing?”

Tommy opened his eyes to see Adam, dressed as Prince Eric, sit on the couch next to him. “Wondering about that kid. I talked to him at the booth before the accident.”

“Greenberg called the hospital earlier to find out about him,” Adam said, leaning forward to pat Tommy’s knee. “He’s okay, just scraped up and his leg is broken. But nothing else, he was really lucky.”

Tommy tossed up a fist into the air. “Good, did we hear anything about the driver?”

“Yeah, Chris said that Officer Hale found the kid. Apparently the kid took his parents’ car and went around a corner too fast. When he realized he was in the middle of a crowd of people he ran.” Adam squeezed Tommy’s knee, his hand not moving.

“Which Officer Hale? Cause if it was Cora that kid would have ended up in the hospital,” Tommy said, knowing that Cora was the Hale to be afraid of. He had been there for the incident that got her to straighten up and into the police academy. That was a mess, but the guy beating up his girlfriend learned the hard way not to put a hand on Cora when she was intervening. 

“It was Cora, but she had Officer Finstock with her,” Adam said with a laugh. “He is the only one other than Laura that could have kept her in check.”

“Does Greenberg know that? She’s kinda territorial over Finstock.” Tommy laughed, laying his hand over Adam’s, unconsciously lacing their fingers together.

Squeezing Tommy’s hand, Adam got quiet. Tommy’s laugh trailed off as he caught the look Adam was giving him. He had seen Adam looking at his boyfriends like he was looking at Tommy now. Tommy swallowed as Adam leaned closer to him. “Adam?”

Tommy was cut off from any other questions when Adam pressed their lips together. Tommy let himself be pulled closer, let himself fall into the kiss before he remembered, “What about the doctor?” He pushed away from Adam, looking at his mouth briefly before back at his eyes. “I can’t... if you are still seeing him, Adam. I can’t do this.”

Adam licked his lips and nodded, before pressing his hand to Tommy’s face. “I’m sorry.”

Tommy swallowed thickly, smiling sadly. “I know, me too. It never seems like we can get it together at the same time huh?”

“You know I love you, right?” Adam asked softly, brushing his thumb over Tommy’s cheek. How they had gone from talking about the injured child to this, Tommy was still trying to parse out, but he knew that this was a conversation they needed to have and had been putting off. “I have for years, it just seems like fate has other plans for us.”

“I know. I love you too. I think that it hasn’t been our time. We’ll know when it’s time for us.” Tommy leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the corner of Adam’s mouth. He was standing up when he heard the door open.

“Did you see how he looked putting the cuffs on that kid?” Greenberg sighed, flopping on the couch as Tommy stepped around the table. 

“No, Dez. We totally missed it when you pointed it out while it was happening, or described it in minute detail on the ride back over here,” Carpenter said, the sarcasm dripping from his words.

“Leave her alone, she’s still in the Scott McCall stage of love.” Boyd chuckled, patting Greenberg’s shoulder as he passed her into the room.

 

“The what?” Ashley settled onto the couch, kicking her feet onto Carpenter’s legs when he sat next to her.

 

“The Scott McCall stage of love. It’s when the afflicted, here it’s Dez, is so in love with their partner that they can only talk about that person and _everything_ that person does, says or eats,” Isaac offered, popping up from where he was shoulders deep in the refrigerator. “So named after our very own Scott McCall and the year long verbal sonnet to the lovely Allison Argent.”

Tommy pressed his hand to Adam’s shoulder as he walked from the room, the sound of Greenberg defending her love for her Cupcake following him out.

~

Tommy was ass up halfway underneath the front end of the ambulance checking to see if the oil that was underneath the rig was coming from his or from a different vehicle, when the air horn startled him, causing him to bash his head on the underside of the truck. Scurrying out from under the truck, he brushed his pants off as Stiles, Allison and Erica can running into the truck bay.

_”Structure fire at Main and Lincoln. Multi level, victims trapped. All call. Repeat. Structure fire at Main and Lincoln. Multi level, victims trapped.”_

Stiles slapped Tommy on the back before jumping into the passenger seat of the ambulance. Tommy hauled himself into the driver’s seat. 

“You ready, Stiles?” Tommy snapped his seatbelt and turned the engine over.

“Let’s do it.” Stiles nodded, watching as the firefighters came pouring from the main building, some still hauling their turnout suspenders over their shoulders, Greenberg pulling her helmet on before jumping into the passenger seat of the truck. Brian flipped the lights on and kicked on the siren as he pulled the truck out of the bay, followed closely by Ashley in her truck. 

Tommy pulled the ambulance out after Ashley’s truck, he knew that Allison was right behind him as they sped toward the fire.

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=db483)

“Holy fuck,” Tommy breathed out, pulling to a stop behind the line of police cars. Glancing once at Stiles, Tommy unlatched his seatbelt and opened his door. “Let’s get ready.”

Rounding the back of the rig, Tommy stood back as Stiles opened the doors and hauled himself in. Grabbing the end of the gurney, Tommy pulled it from the back of the ambulance, one hand on the med bags Stiles had set on top.

“Hey guys, is it as bad as it looks?” Allison asked, pulling her gurney over to set it up next to Tommy’s, Erica coming to stand next to her as they watched the yellow glow from the fire down the block.

“It’s bad enough that they called us,” Danny said, leaning against Tommy’s gurney while Jackson locked the wheels on theirs.

Tommy rubbed a hand over his face. This was not good. They called in those off shift. They must have known this was bigger than the usual fire. Tommy turned to ask Danny a question when they heard a loud roar and then the street went bright white and yellow. Shading their eyes, everyone dropped to the ground, carefully peeking out to see what was going on.

Tommy could see someone rushing toward them, the flames making the reflective bands on the firefighter’s turnouts flash with each quickened step. He could see that it was Isaac rushing toward them, his face streaked with soot under his helmet as he came to a stop in front of Stiles. Hands on his knees, he gasped for air.

“We need you.” Isaac coughed hard, spitting blackened mucus onto the ground. 

Danny pushed forward, grabbing Isaac by the jacket and moving him to the back of one of the open ambulances. “You guys go. I’ll stay here and get him on some O2.” Danny glared at Isaac, tearing open an oxygen mask and tubing. “How long were you in there without your mask, Lahey?”

Tommy slung his bag over his shoulder as he rushed off, the anger in Danny’s voice following him as Isaac mumbled, “I don’t know, maybe four minutes? I was on my way out and my hose snagged, I ditched my mask when I saw my hose was pinned.”

“Christ, Isaac! You are so lucky.” Danny’s voice wavered slightly, Tommy glanced back once to see him pressing his forehead to Isaac’s as he adjusted the oxygen mask on his face. “You can’t do that. I can’t lose you.”

Tommy adjusted his pack and picked up speed, seeing for the first time all the victims spread on the concrete halfway between the ambulances and the fire.

Tommy looked around, seeing the scene and all the victims. He turned to the others behind him. “Alright, we’re on triage. You know how it goes. Green for the walking, Yellow for alert but immobile, Red, unconscious or with altered mental status. Black is DOA.” Tommy pulled a pair of gloves on and pulled his triage tags from a side pocket of his bag. “Let’s go.”

~

Tommy looked up from where he was splinting an ankle. He was pleased to see there were no black tags out at all. It was a sea of green and yellow tags. A few red, but nothing life threatening. “Okay, sir. You stay right here and there will be someone by to help you to an ambulance.” Tommy pushed to his feet and looked around for a familiar face.

He saw Stiles and Erica near one of the firetrucks, their faces ashen.

“What’s going on?” Tommy walked up to them, his heart in his throat. 

“Boyd and Adam are still inside. They’re silent. No one has heard from them in over two minutes.” Erica’s voice broke, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

“Hey, they’ll be fine. They’re probably going to come out the back or something. You know how Adam is, always making an entrance,” Tommy said with a strained smile. That was when they heard Boyd over the radio. _”Lambert was trapped, wall came down and pinned his legs. His O2 hose was kinked when he went down, can’t find where. Giving my O2 to him. Heading out.”_

Tommy’s heart stopped. Everything began to slow down. He could hear someone trying to talk to him, someone was wheezing, he needed to help that person, where was his oxygen, they needed help. It wasn’t until Stiles stood in front of him with his hands on Tommy’s face that Tommy realized the person wheezing was him. “Tommy, look at me. Breathe, come on man. Breathe with me, in and out.” Tommy struggled, clutching at Stiles’ wrists. “Erica, grab the tank, he’s going to pass out.”

Tommy’s mouth gaped like a fish as he struggled to inhale with Stiles. His chest tightened, he grabbed at the mask Stiles was fitting over his face. “No,” Tommy wheezed, finding himself on his ass at the back of the fire truck. He pushed to his feet, dragging in raspy breaths and shoving the mask off his face. “Where... Is...” Tommy leaned over at the waist, his hands on his knees. He had never felt like this before; it felt like someone ripped something from his chest. Sure he told Adam that he loved him, but he didn’t tell him that he was _in love_ with him. “Radio! Can we talk to him over the radio?” Tommy stood tall, pulling his shoulders back as he rushed over toward where Derek and Peter were standing. 

He pushed between them, grabbing at Derek’s arm. “Has he said anything? Has Boyd come out?”

“He’s not answering. His beacon should be going off,” Derek said, looking down at Tommy, fear in his eyes. It was only a year before that they had lost one of their guys, and the house was still feeling the loss. They wouldn’t be able to handle losing another one of their own, let alone Adam. 

Tommy stood between them watching as Brian, Ashley and Greenberg aimed a hose at the front windows and Carpenter with Scott around the back hitting the back of the house. The more time that went by the more apprehensive Tommy got. He could hear Erica behind him yelling at Stiles, her fear making her mean.

“We can’t leave him in there.” Peter began pulling his gear on, tucking his hood inside his jacket before grabbing for his mask. “Derek, I’m going in.”

“No, we need you out here. I’ll go in.” Derek grabbed his mask where it was hanging at his chest; he was pulling it on when Tommy noticed Stiles rushing over.

Grabbing Derek’s face, Stiles pressed their foreheads together. “You be careful and bring him out alive. Got it?”

Derek nodded, pulling his hood over the top of his head before settling the mask on his face and tugging the straps tight. As Derek retightened his tank on his back, there was a yell from Brian as a figure came through the fiery doorway. 

Tommy yelled back to Jackson. “Keep Reyes there! Stiles, grab a tank, I’ll get Boyd!” Letting his professionalism take over, he looked at Derek briefly. “Bring him out, please.”

Derek’s voice was muffled behind his mask. “I will.” 

“Be safe and bring yourself out too.” Tommy slapped Derek’s shoulder before rushing off to where Boyd was leaning on the back of one of the trucks, Stiles yelling at him before shoving an oxygen mask on his face.

“Boyd, how long were you without your mask?” Tommy asked, kneeling next to Boyd, grabbing his arm to wrap a blood pressure cuff around his biceps.

Boyd coughed hard, spitting blackened mucus on the ground. “Less than two minutes. I fit the mask on Lambert, got the oxygen off my back and headed out the front.”

“Chief Hale is going to tear you a new asshole for taking off your mask,” Stiles bit out, grabbing the heart monitor and leads. “Take off your shirt so i can put you on the monitor.”

“Hale may tear him a new one, but I have a feeling Reyes has first dibs,” Tommy whispered, hearing Erica threatening to break Jackson’s nose if he didn’t let her go. “She’s coming over now.”

Boyd had the good sense to look scared as Erica thundered over. “ **Vernon Milton Boyd!** What the fuck were you thinking scaring the shit out of me like that!?” Erica rasped out, tears and her shaking hands giving away her fear rather than her anger.

Tommy stood up, nodding at Stiles to keep monitoring Boyd. He turned and walked back over to where Peter was standing, his hand at his shoulder on his radio.

“Derek, talk to me. Do you have eyes on Lambert?”

_”I have him, part of the wall is on his ass. Only you, Lambert, getting stuck by your ass.”_

“How is he? Is he talking?” Peter looked over at Tommy, a reassuring smile on his face.

_”Yeah, he’s talking. His radio is gone, but he’s fine, just stuck. I’ll get him out.”_

“Derek, where are the flames? We have them pouring out of the windows here. Are they around you?”

_”Yeah, there are flames around us, but we’ve got a clear shot out the door. I’ve got the wall off him, we will be right out!”_

Tommy held his breath watching the front of the building, the water shooting from the hoses making loud hissing sounds as it hit the flames, black clouds of smoke pouring from the exploded windows on the upper floors. His heart hammered in his chest, the fear acrid on his tongue. How could he have gone for so long without telling Adam how he really felt? He vowed to himself that he would tell Adam the truth about how he felt. He couldn’t let another day go by without being honest about his feelings.

“We got movement!” Ashley yelled, the only sound the roar and hiss of the fire and the front of the building obscured by steam and black smoke so at first they could see nothing. Then there they were. Derek, with an arm around Adam, came through the wall of smoke. 

Tommy grabbed his bag and rushed over to where Derek was setting Adam on the ground. Tommy pulled on his gloves and grabbed a mask and hose from his pack. Stiles settled on the other side of Adam with another portable heart monitor and oxygen. Passing the oxygen to Tommy, Stiles grabbed the bottom of Adam’s shirt and using the scissors he cut it up the middle, pulling it open so he could put the leads on Adam’s chest.

Tommy was silent as he attached the hose to the oxygen and slid the mask over Adam’s face. He was angry. Not at Adam but at the situation. He had never been so scared before. Adam had been caught in a fire last year when they lost Ethan. Adam had been trapped with him and was the only one of the two to make it out. Even then, Tommy was scared sure, but it wasn’t this heart stopping terror. They had a line in and were able to talk to Adam then, maybe it was the silence this time, maybe it was the depth and ferocity of his feelings now. Tommy didn’t know why it was different now, he just knew that his feelings were intense.

“You scared the shit out of me, Adam.” Tommy adjusted the mask over Adam’s face, then using a moistened piece of gauze he wiped at the soot on Adam’s cheeks. He could feel his eyes starting to sting, not from the smoke but from the tears that wanted to come. “You can’t leave me, I can’t handle that.”

Tommy rubbed his face against his shoulder, barely missing hitting his eye with his shoulder radio. He felt a hand touch his wrist. Looking down, he saw Adam staring up at him.

“Never leave you,” Adam rasped out, his throat raw from the smoke he inhaled before Boyd was able to get the mask on him. “Love you.”

“Damn it, Adam. Why does it take this for me to realize that I am in love with you?” Tommy laughed harshly. “We have known each other for nearly a decade, have loved each other for just as long and now is the moment I decide to tell you that I am _in_ love with you. I can’t... Adam, you are my entire world. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.”

Adam smiled, holding tight to Tommy’s hand. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Except the hospital,” Jackson said, pushing a gurney over to where they were. “Come on. Enough of this Hallmark Channel, Nicholas Sparks bullshit. Get up here so we can take you to the hospital, you damn drama queen.”

“Fuck off, Whitmore.” "Fuck off, Whitmore," Adam rasped, as Tommy and Stiles helped him to sit and then to get up on the gurney so Jackson could load him into the waiting ambulance. Adam reached out one of his hands and grabbed for Tommy. “Hey.”

Tommy grasped his hand back and smiled down at Adam. “I’ll see you at the hospital. Gotta make sure these guys do their jobs and all that shit.”

The smile Adam gave him made Tommy’s heart clench in his chest. “I love you, Tommy.”

Tommy leaned down, pressing his forehead to Adam’s. “I love you too. I’ll see you at the hospital. Don’t give the nurses a hard time, got it? I’ll make sure Melissa takes care of you if you do.”

Adam grimaced at him. “Fine.” 

Tommy just shook his head, moving the mask from Adam’s face briefly to press a light kiss to his lips. “Get him to the hospital.”

“I’ve been trying, but you insist on the feelings and shit,” Jackson sniped, grabbing the head of the gurney to push it to the ambulance. 

“Stop being a bag of dicks, Whitmore, and get me to the hospital.” Adam grunted, the initial jolt of the gurney moving over rough ground making the breath burst from his lungs.

Tommy chuckled, a weight off his chest as he watched Adam swat at Jackson’s hands on his mask, then turned back to Stiles. “Alright, lets get this wrapped up, yeah?”

Stiles nodded at Tommy, grabbing his bag and following Tommy back to their ambulance.

~

Tommy knocked lightly on the hospital room door. Hearing a raspy _Come in_ he pushed the door open.

“Hey, Tommy Joe,” Adam whispered, the oxygen cannula crossing his cheeks, hooked over his ears. Adam looked so small lying in the hospital bed, his eyes tired as he smiled softly at Tommy.

“You scared me, Adam.” Tommy pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down. He took Adam’s hand in his, rubbing his thumb over the skin of his hand that wasn’t covered by tape holding his IV in place. “All I imagined when I heard Boyd say you were pinned was when we lost Ethan. I can’t lose you like that.” 

Adam reached over and thumbed over Tommy’s cheek, wiping a tear away. “Hey, I’m okay. I know that doesn’t make it any less terrifying, but I’m okay.”

“I know, except you’re lying here in this bed with oxygen right now.” Tommy twisted the volume knob on his radio when it started to squawk to life, to lower the sound. “We need to...”

Adam squeezed Tommy’s hand. “We need to talk about us, don’t we?”

“I love you, Adam. What else do we need to talk about?” Tommy looked at Adam. He was so in love with Adam it should have scared him. Instead it felt right, like something locked into place in his chest.

Adam laughed, which in turn caused him to cough, pulling Tommy closer by one hand. With his free hand he cupped Tommy’s cheek. “Good, because I love you too.” Pulling Tommy closer, Adam lightly kissed his mouth, as Tommy’s shoulder radio went off. “You got a call.”

“Yeah, I’ll be back after my shift.” Tommy pressed another kiss to Adam’s mouth before walking out the door.

~

“Hey, Ratliff! You coming to the barbeque tonight at Lahey and Mahealani’s place?” Stiles asked, hopping up into the back of the ambulance.

“Yeah, Adam gets off shift at six thirty so we are heading over after that,” Tommy said, tossing a sterile pack of tubing to Stiles to put in the drawer next to his hip.

“You aren’t going to be late because you’re ‘getting off’ again are you? Because while I am glad you both finally pulled your heads out of your asses and got together, seeing you both with ‘just got fucked’ hair and faces is something I can live without.” Stiles tucked the tubing into the drawer and caught the rolls of tape Tommy threw at him.

“Oh, like you and Hale are any better? I can’t count how many times I’ve walked in on you guys in some weird ass position with cocks out.” Tommy laughed just as the PA went off.

_”Multi car collision, Interstate Five off ramp at MLK Boulevard. Unknown injuries at this time. All Call. Repeat. Multi car collision, Interstate Five off ramp at MLK Boulevard. All Call.”_

Tommy followed Stiles out of the back of the ambulance as the firefighters came pouring out of the house, pulling suspenders over their shoulders, helmets on. Stopping at the driver’s door of his rig, Tommy saw Adam rushing over, his helmet on, dragging his jacket over his shoulders.

“Be safe,” Adam said, leaning down to plant a kiss to Tommy’s mouth before rushing to his truck.

“Ugh, get a room you two!” Greenberg yelled with a laugh from her place in the back of the truck.

Tommy laughed, pulling himself into his rig. He looked over at Stiles. “Ready?”

“Always,” Stiles said, buckling his seatbelt as Tommy flipped the sirens on and followed the firetruck out of the bays.

No matter what was happening in their lives, they knew that the world kept on going around them.


End file.
